A little while ago I made my wife laugh by doing an impression of a dog acting guilty. After the laughter subsided I started thinking: How does a dog even know how to act guilty? Guilt is not an emotion in any part of the rest animal kingdom except perhaps to a much lesser extent in cats and maybe chimpanzees although I am not sure about the latter due to little contact with chimps. Cats have such a superiority complex that they really don't show much guilt about anything.

But dogs go completely overboard in the guilt department. You come home and if your dog did something it shouldn't have done, such as leave a "deposit" on the floor, you can often tell right away. The head is down, you might hear some whimpering, and the eyes give away a great deal of guilt. Not only can dogs act guilty, it is much more exaggerated than in humans since people often tried to hide their guilt.

We take this feeling of guilt for granted in dogs because we are so used to it. However, guilt is a very complicated emotion. How did dogs pick up feelings of guilt? It's really amazing when you think about it.

Even wolf pups will display wile and cunning in leveraging extra food within the pack. They are punished when caught, but it's a behavior that also proves beneficial to the pack when it's later employed in hunting larger game.

Dogs are more intune with peoples emotions than you would think. The tone of your voice, the look in your eyes, even the scent of when you are mad causes responses.
Dogs are the perfect companion for people. They dont care what kind of day you had, or how much money you make. They are always happy when you walk in the front door.
A better question is why they put up with us?

19
posted on 09/18/2009 3:13:46 PM PDT
by Yorlik803
( If this be treason, then lets make the best of it.)

To get a little serious about it, it's a fascinating behavior. I assumed it was imitative behavior except on second thought I don't know what opportunity that puppy had to observe it and would speculate that he hadn't one, that expression being fairly rare in human behavior on a day to day basis. So where did it come from?

Personally I suspect that doggies read minds. Not well, but they do. Prove it ain't so! ;-)

Social pack behavior is in the genes of dogs. As you are the alpha leader of the pack, your dog will display certain behavior traits to show subservience to you. One of these is what we as humans would interpret as guilt. It is not guilt per se, but your dog knows that it needs to defer to your authority and circumvent your displeasure in order to remain part of the pack.

My theory: Dogs are pack animals and they will assume submissive postures to members of the pack that have a higher status. A dog that gives you the “guilty” look has broken a pack rule and views you as higher ranking pack member that is about mete out discipline.

LOL! That video really does present a guilty dog. And what other animal looks so guilty? Somewhere along the road, dogs picked up the guilt trip from humans. There are also other dog looks similar to humans.

My sister’s cat would act guilty, skulking behind furniture, etc. My sister knew that meant there was a mess somewhere in the house. When it was found, and she gave a cat a swat, the cat was all cheerful again.

This may also be why dogs left packs to bond with humans. In the pack the alpha dog might just kill them. In dealing with humans - if the dog looks sad then the human usally says okay that is alright. You are a good boy or girl. Most humans are more forgiving than an alpha dog.

I think you’re right. My dogs have been admonished their whole lives when they do naughty stuff. They know when they do something on my “naughty” list that I’ll not be my usual happy go lucky self with them. Dogs innately understand body language and facial expressions within their own kind and also with humans, particularly with humans with which they have a long history.

When my cat was alive, the kitty litter was along the bathroom wall near the toilet. And when I sat down on the toilet, my cat often chose that time to do her thing on the kitty litter. Strange look on her face but I chuckled at her purposeful timing.

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